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MACMAs NATIONAL SEMINAR ON
SAUDARA BARU ERA BARU
9hb Rabiulakhir, 1,422 bersamaan 1 July, 2,001
at Holiday Villa, Subang, Selangor, Malaysia.

MACMA OUR MISSION
By: Dato Haji Mustapha Ma,
President, Malaysian Chinese Muslim Association MACMA

Assalamu Alaikum w.b.t. May Allahs Blessings of Peace be with you!

In all humility, I am singularly honoured and privileged as President of MACMA to welcome our guest of honour Y.A.B. Dato Menteri Besar Selangor Darul Ehsan Dato Seri Dr. Muhammad Khir bin Toyo to MACMAs National Seminar on Saudara Baru Era Baru. We sincerely appreciate the honour that Y.A.B. Dato Menteri Besar has bestowed on this gathering as inspite of Y.A.B. Dato Seris multifarious duties and extremely busy schedules you have kindly agreed to set aside some time to be with us today to officially Declare Open this MACMA National Seminar on Saudara Baru Era Baru.

I also wish to greet each and every one of you and to extend to all of you a very sincere fraternal greetings from all the MACMA Members. Assalamu Alaikum w.b.t. This is not only a greeting of Peace but also an invocation and a prayer to Almighty Allah to Grant Peace to all of you. Insy Allah!
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At gatherings such as this, I am always reminded of the following very wise sayings of men of destiny:

Firstly, I recall the teachings of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W.) who urged us to spare no efforts to:

SEEK KNOWLEDGE, GO TO CHINA IF YOU MUST.

And in China, Confucius the famous teacher and philosopher who with great wisdom and deep humility said:

IN THE COMPANY OF THREE, THEREIN MY MENTOR.

The Roman philosopher Cicero had this to say for a teaching, learning and sharing situation such as this MACMAs National Seminar:

TO TEACH IS BUT TO LEARN TWICE.
Another Chinese philosopher Mencius in urging his disciples to be involved said:

TELL ME, ILL FORGET,
SHOW ME, I MIGHT REMEMBER,
BUT INVOLVE ME, I WILL UNDERSTAND.

Syukur Alhamdullillah, I am greatly encouraged by all of you gathered in this hall and I would like to take this opportunity to share with you, my perception of MACMA OUR MISSION.


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MACMA is the acronym of the Malaysian Chinese Muslim Association. Unlike what the name of MACMA implies, MACMA is not repeat NOT intended merely to look after the interest of the Malaysian Chinese Muslims.
The Malaysian Chinese Muslim is a Muslim in an Islamic Nation Malaysia and a member of the Islamic Ummah. His or her interests or welfare should be looked after without discrimination according to the universal brotherhood and sisterhood principles of Islam.

If we apply that universal principle then MACMA cannot find justification for its existence if its first and primary function is to promote and safeguard only the interests of Chinese Muslims in Malaysia.

Cognizant of this reality, MACMA has relegated that objective further down the ladder in order to focus attention on MACMAs Mission which is also Our Mission.

The PRIMARY and MOST IMPORTANT OBJECTIVE of MACMA is to demonstrate the Universality of Islam to Muslims and Non-Muslims alike. That Islam is for all races, for all cultures, for all countries and for all times.

SECONDLY MACMA AIMS to project the positive image of Malaysian Chinese Muslims to Malaysians who have yet to revert back to Islam in particular, the Non-Muslim Malaysians of ethnic Chinese descent.

THIRDLY, MACMA through pro-active endeavours both direct and indirect through Dakwah Lisan and Dakwah Bil Hal reach-out to all Non Muslim Malaysians with particular emphasis on Malaysian Chinese. We must preach through words, action, deeds and exemplary behaviour.

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FOURTH AIM OF MACMA is, in tandem with our Malay Brothers and Sisters who are in the great majority in Malaysia, to give meaning and substance to the principles of Islamic Brotherhood and Sisterhood. Similarly, the Chinese say: Within the Four Seas, all men are brothers.

FIFTH AIM of MACMA is to dispel the mistaken notion from the minds of our Malay Brothers and Sisters: That all Chinese are Kafirs. A great number of Malaysian Chinese Muslims are born Muslims and Alhamdullillah an even greater number of Malaysian Chinese Muslims are reverts or converts or Saudara Baru.
If we believe that all Men are born Muslims, then it is counter-productive to the cause of Islamic Dakwah to view and worse still to blanket treat all ethnic Chinese as Kafirs. It is an undeniable fact that there are more ethnic Chinese Muslims in China than there are Malay Muslims in Malaysia.

THE SIXTH OBJECTIVE or AIM of MACMA is to dispel the myth or misunderstanding that Masuk Islam is synonymous with Masuk Melayu.
If the interpretation is that one embraces Islam through the Malay society or community to enter the world of universal brotherhood and sisterhood of Islam, then it is both reasonable and acceptable.
However, it must not be construed as someone who must be culturally and socially integrated or assimilated to become a Malay or Malay-nised to become a Muslim.
This distinction is important particularly to the ethnic Chinese - as the Non-Muslim Chinese technically do not object to one of their kind to embrace a religion or even change a religion as evidenced by Chinese becoming Budhists, Taoists, Hindus, Christians etc. They even dont object to Chinese adopting certain Malay Customs. What they fear most and object even more defiantly is the abandonment or forsaking of the traditional Chinese culture and in particular the Chinese family heritage.
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What is unimaginable and totally unacceptable is for a Chinese to forget, discard, abandon or forsake his family name, his family identity, his roots, his respect for his father, grandfather and ancestors. Filial-piety Love and respect of ones parents and elders - is of paramount importance to the Chinese. They are surprised to learn that the Holy Prophet Mohammed (S.A.W.) said in answer to a question from his follower that: Heaven lies at the feet of thy mother.
To the Chinese it is a truly hateful act of disloyalty, disrespect, insult of the highest order and ungratefulness to the extreme for someone to violate the family heritage. To exaggerate, in order to bring-out the meaning and significance, a Chinese who willingly and consciously forsakes the traditional Chinese custom and traditions is literally treated and regarded as a traitor to the Chinese Culture, his own family and his own racial heritage.

Consequent to the above, the SEVENTH OBJECTIVE of MACMA is to foster the understanding of our Malay Brothers and Sisters to embrace Saudara Baru as members of the Universal Islamic Ummah rather than a New Malay Brother or New Malay Sister. If we trace the history of conversions to Islam, most conversions were for the sake of marriage. One way or another they were assimilated by the Malay Muslim community. Those who converted for other reasons and under other circumstances were few and far between.

EIGHTH OBJECTIVE of MACMA is to demonstrate the healthy life-styles of Muslims.
In the old days The staple food or meat of the Non-Muslim Chinese was pork. It was his life-blood. He could not live a day without eating pork. Now thanks to the advancement of scientific and medical knowledge and concern for hygiene and health coupled with the fears created by Japanese Encephalitis, Nipah diseases, Korok, cholesterol, blood and heart diseases etc. etc. more and more Chinese on their own accord no longer eat pork. It is no longer the impossible hurdle of yester-years.
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Muslims healthy life styles of eating Halal Food, Cleanliness, Personal Hygiene of Ablution, Five Daily Prayers, and Fasting during the Holy month of Ramadhan etc. must all be explained explicitly.
Healthy life-styles of Muslims also include abstinence from alcohol, tobacco and drugs. Unfortunately, too many of our Muslim Brothers and Sisters are showing a bad example.

THE NINTH OBJECTIVE OF MACMA is to foster the understanding that most of the Chinese Cultural observances are not linked to religion and are not unIslamic. MACMA needs to foster this understanding to both Muslims and Non-Muslims alike in order to remove the inherent objection to Islam as completely incompatible with Chinese Cultural traditions. e.g. Chinese New Year Celebrations, Mid-Summer May Festival, Mid-Autumn Moon Festival, Re-union dinners etc.

As an extension and culmination of the MACMA Objectives mentioned above, MACMA proposes to establish a Chinese Islamic Cultural Centre using Chinese Architectural design features in the Klang Valley. Y.A.B. Dato Menteri Besar, Selangor has on many occasions voiced his support for the proposal.

On this auspicious occasion and taking advantage of this MACMA National Seminar, I pray to Allah, God Almighty to Bless our efforts to formally seek Y.A.B. Dato Seri Dr. Muhammad Khir bin Toyo, Menteri Besar Selangors wholehearted support to help us realize this MACMA Dream in Selangor Darul Ehsan. Amin.

Wabillahi Taufik Wal Hidayah Assalamu Alaikum w.b.t.





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